Hundreds of German universities set to lose access to Elsevier journals

Negotiations to reduce journal prices and promote open access are progressing slowly.

Quirin Schiermeier

The Free University of Berlin is part of a consortium that is negotiating with Elsevier.Credit: Hannibal Hanschke/REUTERS.

Around 200 German universities will lose their subscriptions to Elsevier journals within weeks, because negotiations have failed to end a long-term contract dispute.

The conflict between Elsevier, the world’s biggest publisher of scientific journals, and Germany’s entire university system has dragged on since 2015. Academics in the country lost access to Elsevier content briefly early this year, but it was later restored while contract talks resumed…